Coming to Terms
Draco’s POV
In a starkly different wizarding home, Harry’s archrival was learning what it meant to be part of the Death Eaters, and he wasn’t happy that his father was forcing him to join at the end of his 5th year. He was hoping, but dare he let anyone know it, that Potter, Granger and Weaslebee would end the war before it even began. His only hope of surviving was to play the role of obedient son well enough that nobody would think he was truly cheering for the Light.
He was not looking forward to the morning. According to his father, he would be attending his first Death Eater meeting. He could only imagine how horrid they were from the sounds of screaming that echoed through the manor everytime they would meet. Learning to keep his emotions in check was the key, or at least that is what his father kept telling him. His Aunt Bellatrix was training him to use occlumency, and he was getting better at it, but her methods were less than pleasant.
All Draco wanted was to find a way to truly defect, maybe there was a way he could communicate with Potter or Granger and let them know he was on their side of the war. His thoughts instantly went to his parents, especially his mother, he didn’t want her stuck in the middle. He knew his father would never defect, he was too deep into the dark side, but his mum, he could save her. He just needed to get the message to her at the right time and hope that the Light would agree to save her if he defected and gave them as much information as he could.
For now all he could do was continue to practise his occlumency, stay away from the Dark Lord as much as possible and stay under the radar. Once he returns to Hogwarts he can begin to plan his next steps, and hopefully side himself amongst the Gryffindor trio. It wouldn’t be an easy task, but it wouldn’t be completely impossible. Granger is smart, she is who he needs to get close to first, he wondered if there was any way he could make it so they had to work together in a class. He’d talk to Severus the next chance he had, and see if he could talk to the other professors about making them work together, as a way to ‘keep their eye on him’.
With a half-thought out plan in place his mind finally allowed him to sleep, the nightmares came almost instantly. Images of his mother being tortured, her screams echoing in his brain, them both dying at the Dark Lord’s hand due to the mistakes of his father. He woke in a pool of sweat, and he knew he had to act, and act as fast as he could, he couldn’t risk his mother’s life any longer.
As the sun began to shine over the horizon, Draco rose from his bed in search of Severus, who he knew was staying at the Manor, at least until school started up again. As he wandered towards the Dungeons, where he knew Severus would be working on potions, his thoughts wandered to Hogwarts and how he missed being there. He had more freedom there, didn’t have to be as proper or held together; he didn’t have to occlude all the time to protect his mind.
Once he reaches the door of the room Severus was brewing potions, he pauses, second guessing if this was a good idea. But before he could change his mind, the door opened, and Severus stood there staring at him. “Uhhh can I come in and talk to you, privately?” Draco says, emphasising the last word.
“Come in quickly then, I have things I need to be doing.” Severus grumbles with a sneer, as Draco enters the cold and grey room. He notices several cauldrons boiling with various putrid smells bubbling up from each of them. He wonders if Severus was concocting potions for the Dark Lord, or for his own personal use. Severus began placing silencing spells and locking charms on the room, so that nobody could overhear. “What do you need Draco, and why do you need privacy?”
“Well Severus, I think I know where you stand in this war, I’ve seen the signs, you’re not truly dark, are you?” Draco questions Severus hesitantly.
“Why would you think such a thing, you daft boy, these kinds of thoughts could get one in lots of trouble.” Severus replies irate at the suggestion, not knowing why Draco would even think these things.
“Sir, I know you aren’t, because I see the same signs in you, that I see in myself.” Draco mutters almost too softly to hear, hoping he wasn’t wrong about his godfather.
“YOU WHAT!” Severus yells.
“I…I… want t…to… I want to Defect.” Draco stammers out, his eyes looking down at the floor.
“Draco, do you know how dangerous of a thought that is? How dangerous it is to be having this conversation?” Severus asks his tone softer, barely above a whisper.
“I know, but I can’t, I can’t stay here anymore, I can’t be on this side. The torture, the death, I can’t stand it. I may not agree with the Light, and I may still hate mudbloods, but I don’t agree with the Dark Lord either. My father is forcing me to take the mark next summer and I won’t, I won’t do it Severus. I want to be safe, I want my mother safe. Please, please help me, help me and my mother defect, help keep us safe.” Draco pleads with his godfather, hoping he would understand.
“Out! Get out of here, go back to your room and hope that nobody saw you come in here. Practise hard Draco, you must not let your aunt or the Dark Lord see into your mind.” Severus says, agitation in his voice.
“I…will you help me? Please, I need to know.” Draco asks, shaking, a single tear running down his cheek.
“Yes, boy, I will help you, but right now you need to leave.” Severus says with a sigh.
Draco left, walking away quickly, heading for the gardens. He knew his mother would be there, and he really just needed to see her. To see that she was still safe, and that he was doing the best he could to keep her that way.
Harry’s POV
Harry woke up with a start, the unfamiliar room confusing him at first, but he soon remembered that he was now living with his godfather at 12 Grimmauld Place, something he only dreamed of over the last year. Now that he was here, he was unsure of how to feel, so much was happening to him right now. The upcoming trial to see what would happen to him after he cast the Patronus to save himself and Dudley from the dementors. He really didn’t want to get expelled from Hogwarts, but if he was, did that mean he got to stay with Sirius during the school year? What would happen if the Ministry decided to destroy his wand, would he be able to get a new one? Would he never get to use magic again? There were so many questions running through his mind that he didn’t hear Hermione calling out to him until there was a bang on his bedroom door.
He jumps up, throwing on the clothes he had stripped off before he fell asleep last night, and answers the door. Hermione is standing there, hair all frizzy, looking like she had just climbed out of bed. “What’s wrong Hermione, why are you banging on my door so early?” He asks her, while buttoning up his shirt.
“I wanted to make sure yesterday wasn’t a dream, you really are here. When you didn’t answer me I thought maybe I had dreamed it all,” Hermione sighs as she walks into his room and sits down on his bed.
“I’m here, though when I first woke up, I didn’t recognise where I was, and it took me a few minutes to remember that I was here living with you and Sirius. It is a dream come true for me,” Sighing, he sits down beside his best friend and wraps an arm around her, “I’m sorry you had to come live here, I am sure it was hard to send your parents away.”
“I just hope I did enough. I would never forgive myself if something happened to them because of my place in the wizarding world. I need to prepare myself for the worst, and I need to find a way to keep them safe.” Hermione sighs.
“You did everything you could, Hermione. They are safe and away from here. We will find a better way to protect those in the muggle world that have ties to the wizarding world,” Trying to comfort her, he wraps his other arm around her, enveloping her in a hug. “I will help you protect your family, you are helping me protect the Dursleys even though they mistreated me.”
Harry closed his eyes, leaning back to lay on the bed, his thoughts drifting off to the Dursleys. He didn’t really care about them, after all, they did abuse him. But if his mum was willing to protect them, then he figured he should too. What he didn’t expect was that Dudley wanted to know more about the wizarding world, and that he truly didn’t like the way his parents treated Harry all those years. It made him hopeful for the future; maybe, just maybe, Dudley would help open the door for the rest of the Dursleys to understand and accept him.
“What are you thinking about, Harry?” Hermione asks as she laid down beside him.
“Honestly, I am thinking about Dudley, and why he suddenly changed his mind about me. He’s never shown any interest in me since I started attending Hogwarts. We avoided each other as much as possible during the summers, and if we did happen to be near each other he bullied me relentlessly,” he sighs.
“I’m glad he decided to talk to me, I hope we can help him learn about the wizarding world.” Hermione smiles at Harry. “I’m going to head downstairs and find some food, do you want to join me?”
“I’ll come down in a few minutes, I just need a few minutes to myself,” he sighs while sitting up.
“Okay I’ll see you down there soon then.” Hermione replies as she heads out of the room and down the stairs.
Harry laid back on his bed again, a long sigh escaping from his lips. He still couldn’t believe how lucky he was to be living here now. He just hoped he could get closer to Sirius without anyone else getting in between them. At least the Weasleys aren’t staying here too, he loved them but they are too much sometimes. Ron is one of his best friends, but he doesn’t get things like Hermione does. Ron never could understand the struggles Hermione and himself face being from the muggle world.
He knew Ron tried, but without living through a muggle upbringing, it just wasn’t the same. The fame that came with his name didn’t help Harry either; everyone expected him to be this phenomenal wizard destined to save the world, when he was just a mere boy who grew up with lies. Ron just loved the attention he got while being bestfriends with The Boy Who Lived. Even in his head he mocked that name, he hated it, with such a passion, some days he wished he didn’t live. Ron also didn’t understand how hard it was for Harry, without his parents – at least Hermione understood that in a small way. She had to send her parents off, and has talked about obliviating them so they have no memories of her at all. She just wants to protect them, and right now that means she doesn’t have them around. But at least they still know who she is. Maybe Ron isn’t really the best person to have as a best friend, and he is so glad that Sirius fought for him to live here at 12 Grimmauld Place, instead of at the Burrow. Harry contemplated his friendship with Ron for several minutes, only coming out of his own thoughts when he heard a clatter of dishes coming from downstairs.